I look mediocre on the Common App

Applying to College
1

<p>As a rising senior and Yale EA applicant, I've been reviewing the old common app to try and figure out what I plan to include/leave out. However, I feel like the app leaves no space for me to detail my achievements, and leaves ample space for things that I don't have. For instance, I have few to no academic honors (besides school awards) - all of my awards are non-academic. Also, I have reached considerable depth in one field (music) but have almost no space to show all my competition wins, important performance venues, etc.</p>

<p>I know I'll be including everything that is important to me on my additional resume/essays, but will they really look at that? Or will they stick mostly to the common app (in which I look rather average)?</p>

2

<p>There’s a section where you can upload a document with additional information; I would try taking advantage of that to describe your accomplishments in more depth.</p>

3

<p>You can include your music awards/honors when you list various music programs/groups as ECs. There’s a low character limit though.</p>

4

<p>You should still list your musical awards and honors in that section especially if they are on a national, regional (eastern western us etc), or state level. Also look into sending a recording of your playing to the music department or the admissions office, if such supplements are allowed.</p>

5

<p>Does Yale have a supplement? If so that may give you additional opportunities to explain your activities and strengths.</p>

6

<p>What dblazer said- Send in something of an “extracurricular resume” to do justice to your activities, but it shouldn’t exceed a page.</p>

7

<p>So they will consider the extracurricular resume to be of equal weight? I just feel crappy having zero significant academic achievements.
Thanks for the help, everyone!</p>

8

<p>I think the Common App has a section where you can put EC’s and awards, but you can also upload additional documents or include them in your supplement if you need to.</p>

<p>I learned that not all applications are well-suited for everyone. I have several awards at the national level but not a whole lot of EC’s and such…last year I applied for the Coca-Cola scholarship, which pretty much left no room for major awards/competitions. Got rejected…</p>

9

<p>rspence I totally identify with you - I feel like I can’t convey the depth of my passion/involvement in any field with this application format. I guess my resume needs to be amazing, then.</p>

10

<p>Don’t forget that there’s a short answer section and essay section too. Those two places are also great to convey the depth of your passion in an extracurricular.</p>